If you’ve ever thought the most successful organic gardeners and farmers seem to always hail from the Northern and Midwestern United States, you are exactly right.Dr. Charles Mitchell, an Alabama Cooperative Extension System agronomist, says there is a reason for their success – it’s easy.

“It is definitely easier to be an organic gardener there,” Mitchell says. “Here in the Deep South, we have to continually fight Mother Nature. With our climate and rainfall, organic matter breaks down almost as fast as we add it to our soils.”

Mitchell says the South has biological activity, or decomposition, for 12 months a year.

“In Minnesota or New England, the soils are frozen during the winter, and biological activity stops,” he says. “This means that in cooler climates, organic matter has a chance to build up in the soil before Mother Nature takes it away. A load of compost or mulch will last a whole lot longer in a Michigan garden soil than it will in an Alabama garden soil.”

Alabama soils tend to be hard, crusty and sometimes difficult to till. In contrast, Midwestern soils tend to be dark, crumbly and friable.

“We can have dark, crumbly and friable soils, too,” Mitchell says. “It just takes about twice as much work for us as it does our Northern gardening cousins. We have to continually add mulches, composts, rotted leaves, straw, bark and plant cover crops to add even more organic matter to the soil. Unfortunately, most Alabama gardeners are not willing to put this much work into it.”

So what are lazy gardeners to do?

Try mulch gardening, Mitchell says.

“If you’ll notice, soil is very dark, crumbly and soft under an old pile of leaves,” he says. “Earthworms are plentiful and the soil is rich in decomposing organic matter. This is Mother Nature giving us a hint – try mulch gardening. By leaving your valuable organic material like straw, leaves, compost, pine bark, etc., on the soil surface, it will last longer than it will if it is mixed with the soil or composted.”

A good mulch reduces the need for soil tillage, eliminates weeds, keeps the soils cool during intensely hot summers, and conserves soil moisture.

“And, at the same time,” Mitchell says, “that hard-packed mineral soil beneath that mulch is being transformed into a soil any organic gardener would love.”

Bookmark Me

When planning a garden, one important consideration is what type of organic matter to incorporate into the garden soil.

Organic matter is simply the decomposed state of material that was once living, said Dr. Dave Williams, a horticulturist with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System.  Organic matter is also referred to as humus when in a finished, composted state.

How much organic matter does your garden need?  “Actually, when it comes to organic matter, you can just about never get too much of a good thing,”  Williams said.

The primary reason for adding organic matter to garden soil is to improve drainage and  soil structure.  Soil is made up of a mixture of different-sized particles, including clay, sand and silt.  Roots must grow and move in the soil to obtain water and air.  Organic matter builds a better soil structure for roots to forage for life-giving water, nutrients and air.

Organic matter also helps bind soil particles together in sandy soil..  “It helps prevent water from flowing through soil too quickly,” Williams said.

There are different types of organic matter that can be added to garden soil.  The best, easiest and most economical and available source of organic matter is compost from your own back yard.  You can make your own compost.  If you need information about compost and how to make a compost pile, contact the county Extension office.

Commercially packaged sources of organic matter include manures, peat and composted materials. Finely ground pine bark can also be used as organic matter for the garden soil.  A word of caution – look for packages that indicate weed-free materials.

Also exercise caution when purchasing top soil. You may not be getting what you think you are.  In fact, you may be introducing a crop of nutgrass or nutsedge into the garden by using purchased top soil.

Some cities even have a community or municipal composting system where residents can get composting material for their gardens.

Bookmark Me